Correspondent Byron Pitts joins ABC News from CBS

NEW YORK (AP) — Veteran correspondent Byron Pitts is jumping from CBS to ABC News, where he will be chief national correspondent and a fill-in anchor for various broadcasts.

Jae C. Hong

FILE - This Aug. 10, 2007 file photo shows then Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, answeing questions from members of the National Association of Black Journalists at the 32nd NABJ Convention at Bally's hotel-casino in Las Vegas, with moderator Byron Pitts, of CBS News. Pitts is jumping from CBS to ABC News, where he will be chief national correspondent and a fill-in anchor for various broadcasts. He spent 15 years at CBS News, where he covered political conventions and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a memo to his staff Monday announcing the hire that Pitts "has a unique talent for stories about people and communities facing the longest odds." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)

FILE - This Aug. 10, 2007 file photo shows then Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, answeing questions from members of the National Association of Black Journalists at the 32nd NABJ Convention at Bally's hotel-casino in Las Vegas, with moderator Byron Pitts, of CBS News. Pitts is jumping from CBS to ABC News, where he will be chief national correspondent and a fill-in anchor for various broadcasts. He spent 15 years at CBS News, where he covered political conventions and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a memo to his staff Monday announcing the hire that Pitts "has a unique talent for stories about people and communities facing the longest odds." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)

Pitts spent 15 years at CBS News, where he covered political conventions and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a memo to his staff Monday announcing the hire that Pitts "has a unique talent for stories about people and communities facing the longest odds."

In a 2009 memoir, Pitts revealed how he overcame a stutter and said he was essentially illiterate until about age 12. He grew up in Baltimore.

ABC has been making more news lately with departures. Jake Tapper and Chris Cuomo have both left for CNN.